PITTSBURGH _ Both starters Saturday night struggled to command their pitches. With R.A. Dickey, the Atlanta Braves knuckleballer, such issues are expected. Not as much from Chad Kuhl, but the Pirates took enough advantage of Dickey to win, 6-4, at PNC Park.
Kuhl walked six batters in five innings, though two of them were intentional free passes to No. 8 hitter Kurt Suzuki. He allowed three runs, two of them earned, and five hits. Kuhl recorded 15 outs and put 12 men on base. He also struck out five, including Freddie Freeman and Ender Inciarte twice apiece.
Three double plays, two of which ended innings that featured multiple baserunners, kept Kuhl's final line in check. The Pirates added another inning-ending double play later.
Gregory Polanco went 4 for 4 with a double, two runs and an RBI.
Kuhl entered spring as the presumptive fourth starter, neither a participant in the competition for the fifth spot nor necessarily assured of a job like Gerrit Cole, Jameson Taillon or Ivan Nova.
"I think we were able to alleviate some pressure on him," Hurdle said. "It's not like you've got to go out and dominate in spring training to nail down a rotation spot, which I think helped him. He could work on things, the parts of pitching that we wanted him to try and enhance during spring training. Throwing some four-seamers at the top (of the strike zone), continuing to sink the ball, working on the changeup, using the breaking ball backdoor and back foot for a swing-and-miss pitch."
Kuhl's .185 average against and 1.02 WHIP during spring training tell a better story than his 4.30 ERA in five starts. He was scheduled to pitch the third game against the Boston Red Sox that was postponed due to weather, so the Pirates moved his season debut to Saturday.
He was in trouble almost immediately. The second batter, Dansby Swanson, doubled, and he walked Freeman. A lineout double play prevented damage in the first inning.
In the second it was more of the same: Singles from Nick Markakis and Brandon Phillips and, after a strikeout of Jace Peterson, an intentional walk to Suzuki to load the bases for Dickey. Dickey poked the ball into shallow right field for a two-run single.
For the second day in a row, an out not made on a routine fly ball led to a run. Starling Marte let Adonis Garcia's easy fly drop right in front of him in the third, putting Garcia on second. Peterson tripled to bring home the run.
But the Braves made errors of their own. Kuhl batted in the second with runners on the corners and two outs, with one run already in from Jordy Mercer's single. Garcia fielded Kuhl's grounder, but Freeman couldn't glove the throw and another run scored. In the third inning, with Polanco on third and the infield drawn in, Phillips couldn't quite stop John Jaso's grounder.
Dickey's knuckleball turned on him in the sixth. Suzuki struggled to corral it. A wild pitch and two passed balls turned Alen Hanson's pinch-hit single into a run. After walks to Marte and Andrew McCutchen, lefty Ian Krol replaced Dickey to face Polanco. Polanco knocked his fourth hit of the night, an RBI single, and the Pirates led 6-3.
Daniel Hudson allowed a run in the eighth. Tony Watson recorded his second save.
